Our boat is not too pretty, not pretty enough to attract pirates anyhow. None-the-less, in earlier cocaine cowboy days we carried an AK aboard and were not afraid to use it on several occasions. It isn't an "end-all" answer, but nobody wants to die when there are easier "boats of prey" abounding nearby. Tommy Aboard LOVERBOAT > > From: "Mike Schooley" <schooley@keyway.net> > Date: 2004/12/28 Tue PM 03:21:44 EST > To: "'Passagemaking Under Power List'" <passagemaking-under-power@lists.samurai.com> > Subject: RE: [PUP] Pirates > > Here is a useful link for Piracy information. > > http://www.icc-ccs.org/prc/piracyreport.php > > The links to maps at the bottom show that the problems have existed for > years and if anything are getting worse. The good news is the pirates in the > Malacca straits primarily attack commercial vessels, but you also need to be > careful in the Red Sea, coastal Africa and South America. > > My experience is most of these countries are under equipped and unwilling to > deal with the pirates in their waters. We tried selling gun boats to some of > these countries but they were unwilling to divert resources from other > priorities. We offered to get shipping firms and their insurance companies > to underwrite a lease, but they declined. One official indicated that they > saw piracy as a form of unemployment insurance and a means of improving > their trade balance. > > Regards; > Mike Schooley > Designing "Portager" a transportable passagemaker > > > > _______________________________________________ > Passagemaking-Under-Power Mailing List >

In the Army, the joking answer to an academic infantry problem was "it depends." Prudent routing, buddy boats, weather, and an understanding of the current situation on the body of water on which you are about to embark are the basis for your planning. On the T&T list, this subject usually results in a two-week exchange of armament ideas. Reflecting on those exchanges, I would say that any idea that permits the assumed pirates to get close is a bad idea. It is very difficult to employ disabling pepper spray etc. and that violates the in-close rule. So IMHO, you have three choices: take only passive measures beforehand like routing, use of lethal demonstrations to dissuade their even approaching, and finally, using lethal force. Or, these could be escalating steps in your defense planning. Abroad, some devices are available that you would toss overboard before entering US or Canadian waters. I am thinking of a sailboat in the Caribbean that was being easily overtaken by a high-speed, civilian speed boat. It was heading right for them in an area where vessels had been commandeered to transport drugs. This couple had a semi-auto rifle, perhaps an AK. But they had one trick up their sleeves - a demonstration. They had acquired some hand grenades and tossed one out into open water where it exploded. The speedboat turned around and disappeared over the horizon. Ron Rogers Willard 40 AIRBORNE Departing Annapolis Wednesday December 29th bound for New Bern, NC